The Scoop
A LOOK AHEAD TO THE 2025 SEASON IN N.E. WISCONSIN
Posted on: Tuesday November 26, 2024
They always talk about “silly season” in NASCAR, but a lot has gone on the local and regional scene already in November.
Most tracks and series have already posted their 2025 season schedules. I applaud those track and series promoters. It’s not an easy gig these days for various reasons. But it’s encouraging to see these schedules out so early. The “buzz” if you will.
Among the “holy crap” announcements that came out was the fact that the High Limit Sprint Car series will make an appearance at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek on Tuesday, June 3. The $26,000-to-win payday features arguably one of the most popular drivers in motorsports today in Kyle Larson.
I’m guessing ticket pre-sales for that event will be huge. The traditional touring deals like Dirt Kings late models and IRA outlaw sprints will return. 141 did gong the grand national division from weekly racing. That leaves just a pair of tracks still hosting the class weekly – Gravity Park USA in Chilton and Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth.
Word on the street is Brad “JJ” Mueller is putting something together in terms of a point fund with some goodies between the two tracks. Stay tuned.
Even with the loss of one of 141’s weekly six classes, don’t expect their monster car counts to fade away anytime soon. Sources indicate several IMCA drivers and a few street stockers who ran weekly at Beaver Dam Raceway on Tuesday nights have already made plans to tow north to race weekly at 141.
And a few of those grand national regulars will elect to run PDTR on Saturdays. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out in 2025.
Although their 2025 schedule hasn’t yet been released, I can confirm that Outagamie Speedway in Seymour will return with nine late model shows including a pair of visits from the Dirt Kings series. You will also get a chance to see some winged sprint cars with a pair of different sanctioning bodies in the IRA and MSA sprints.
The IRA sprints will also be returning to Sturgeon Bay at The Hill. The show got a positive response after their first ever trip to the Door County oval in ’24. Also back for the first time in 15 years will be a late model special at Sturgeon Bay. The Dirt Kings tour will make a visit there on Thursday, August 14 to kick off the Door County Fair.
The last time late models were at Sturgeon Bay was for a Wisconsin Dirt Late Model Association (WDLMA) event on August 10, 2005. Navarino’s Nick Anvelink picked up the win at the “Circle Of Death.”
Back to the sprint cars. SLS Promotions has scheduled a sweet Wisconsin triple crown of the World of Outlaw sprint cars. The “Badger State Triple” will take place Friday, June 6 at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth. Saturday, June 7 the winged warriors will make a stop at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam. Sunday the mini-series wraps up at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie.
On the pavement side of things, the ARCA Midwest Tour recently released their 2025 schedule. Many of the traditional events remain including the Joe Shear Classic at Madison International Speedway to kick it all off Sunday, May 4. The traditional Tuesday “biggie” at WIR in Kaukauna will take place Tuesday, August 5 in Kaukauna.
Meanwhile the ASA Stars National Tour will make its debut at Slinger Super Speedway Sunday, June 15th. That weekend will be part of a doubleheader as the national tour will swing into Madison International Speedway two nights prior on Friday, June 13th on Father’s day weekend.
The racing world has lost a bunch of great people recently in northeastern Wisconsin. Among those we’ve lost include Pete Vercauteren. A De Pere native, Vercauteren was a longtime Midwest Racing News columnist. Vercauteren was front and center of the late model revolution in the greater Green Bay area in the 1970’s.
Between Pete and his brother Gary Vercauteren, the two penned weekly columns and were both the creators of the Mid-American stock car series in the early 1990’s.
Pete Vercauteren
Pete was a great friend to me, as was Gary. Both of the Vercauteren brothers were true mentors to this author. I read every word those two wrote whether it was their columns in MRN, or there spot on racing recaps from De Pere, Shawano, Seymour or even Leo’s Speedway in Oshkosh.
Fly high, Pete. You’ve been a great friend and contributor to many of my books with photos. Pete also penned the foreword for the 2018 release “The Bird and The Bear.”
We’ve recently also lost Wayne Weckwerth. Wayne was a racer from 1972 to 1980. Wayne battled in the ovals of Apple Creek and later moved to the dirt half-mile circuit at Shawano, Seymour and De Pere and Wayne even battled at WIR in Kaukauna on the pavement.
Wayne was also a track announcer – one who worked with this young, wet-behind-the-ears rookie announcer at Seymour’s half-mile in the early 1980’s. Wayne also handled the chores behind the mic at Shawano for several seasons in the ’80’s. A great guy who despite health challenges in recent years remained positive and upbeat. Rest in peace 66.
Longtime starter Dennis Pipekorn also recently passed away. Pipekorn was a flagman at several area tracks, including a long stint at Luxemburg Tri-Star Speedway and throwing the silks for the Fox River Racing Club. Dennis was very dedicated to his craft – a man who seldom missed a flagging gig. He’d get a little excited from time-to-time but his heart was in the right place.
Thanks for reading. We’ll have another column sometime in December with more updates on teams plans for the 2025 racing season.